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We had a lot of good college football games over the weekend, and one of the best that we saw was a rivalry clash between Alabama and Tennessee. The Crimson Tide hit the road to take on the Volunteers, and both teams came into this game struggling a bit. It was a huge contest as Alabama and Tennessee both came into it with one loss already as they each suffered upset losses recently. Now, the Crimson Tide are fighting for their lives in terms of College Football Playoff hopes as they went down in Knoxville.
After the Alabama football team went up 28-0 against Georgia a few weeks ago, it looked like the Crimson Tide were poised to cruise through the rest of their SEC schedule and easily lock up a College Football Playoff spot. However, the Bulldogs had an incredible comeback in the second half of that game, and they eventually took the lead in the fourth quarter. Alabama found a way to win that game, but after that second half, there were some people wondering if the first half was a fluke.
Now, here we are just a few weeks later, and it seems like that first half was indeed a fluke. Since the win against Georgia, Alabama has lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, and they barely beat South Carolina at home. Things aren't looking good for the Crimson Tide.
Saturday's game was a back and forth fight, and Alabama had the lead for much of the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide got the scoring started in the second quarter to go up 7-0, but Tennessee found the end zone twice in the third quarter to take a 14-10 lead into the fourth.
The Crimson Tide scored again early in the fourth to go up 17-14, and they were in a good spot to win the game. However, the Volunteers were able to score 10 points in the final six minutes, and Alabama wasn't able to score again. Tennessee won the game 24-17, and Alabama is now in trouble.
So, what changed from last year to this year? There are a lot of the same players on this team, including the quarterback, and the Crimson Tide were a couple plays away from winning the Rose Bowl and probably a national championship as well last season. Oh, that's right. Alabama doesn't have the best coach in college football history anymore.
Kalen DeBoer has some stuff to figure out
Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer is in his first year leading the Crimson Tide, and the coaching change is the most plausible explanation for the struggles that the team is having this year. First of all, it seems like there has been a blatant culture shift since DeBoer took over, and we saw a perfect example of that on Saturday.
Throughout the year, we have seen Alabama players do some things that wouldn't fly if Saban was the head coach. A prime example was two receivers lining up on a crucial fourth and one on Saturday, and when the ball was snapped, they simultaneously jumped back and did a basketball shooting motion. Alabama did end up getting the first down, but just barely. Maybe it would've been a bigger problem if they didn't, but it was still surprising to see.
That kind of stuff didn't happen under Saban, and it kind of seems like this team is lacking discipline. That could explain some of the turnover issues they are having. Undisciplined teams are the ones that turn the football over, and Alabama had some crucial ones on Saturday.
This is year one for Kalen DeBoer, so Alabama fans don't need to hit the panic button quite yet, but he clearly has some things to figure out.
Week eight college football recap
The Tennessee football team hosting Alabama was one of the biggest matchups of the weekend, but there were a lot of good games around college football this weekend. Let's go through a quick recap of what happened.
Starting in the ACC, we had an outstanding matchup on Saturday as #6 Miami narrowly avoided an upset in a shootout against Louisville. That was definitely the biggest and best game of the weekend in the conference. Clemson is the other big dog in the ACC, and they won as well. The Tigers and Hurricanes are on a collision course and will likely meet up in the ACC title game.
Good Big 12 action got going on Friday night as #13 BYU needed some last-second heroics to take down Oklahoma State. The Cowboys nearly pulled off a huge upset. #9 Iowa State also had a scare, but they survived a thrilled against UCF. #17 Kansas State also took care of business against West Virginia.
Colorado also continued to impress this weekend as they dominated Arizona. They won 34-7 as this one was never close, but it was expected to be. The Buffaloes are a threat in the conference after everyone doubted them coming into the season.
In the Big Ten, Indiana solidified itself as a legit contender as they absolutely dismantled Nebraska 56-7. Also, USC and Michigan both lost as favorites. The Wolverines are now 4-3 and unranked after winning it all last year, and USC is 3-4.
Outside of the Tennessee-Alabama game, there was one other huge matchup in the SEC, and it was the biggest game of the week in college football. Georgia lost to the Crimson Tide, but they went on the road and comfortably beat #1 Texas on Saturday night. The Bulldogs are sitting pretty in the SEC race while Alabama is on the outside looking in in terms of College Football Playoff rankings.
It was another fun and exciting week of college football, and we are somehow already going into week nine when it feels like the season just started. It's crunch time now.
